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Tips for Buying a Home
Because most people's requirements and situation are unique, this section is, only,
pesented to serve as a basic guide with some general suggestions.
Before you even begin looking at advertisements of homes for sale or contact a realtor,
we would suggest that you come up with a proposed monthly budget, and decide exactly
how much you can afford to invest in your home every month. For most people, it's
the monthly payment that matters, not the actual sales price.
Once you have come up with an amount to go towards housing, break down that amount
into it's various components.
This should include:
- Principal & Interest on your
new loan
- Taxes
- Homeowners insurance
- Utilities
- Association fees/Common charges
if necessary
- Maintenance
- Repairs allowance
At this point you should have
a figure in mind to put towards loan payments and other monthly expenses.
Don't fall into the trap of buying more house than you can afford. By doing this
you can become a slave to your house payments. Don't do it, it's no way to live.
Decide what you can comfortably afford and then stick to it.
Next, you should obtain a copy of your personal credit report. You might be surprised
at how much erroneous information it might contain. The wrong information could prevent
you from obtaining the most favorable financing and could even force you to default
on a contract.
Before you begin to go out looking at homes, you should also sit down with a few
loan officers and get pre-approved for a loan. Not only will this give you an opportunity
to shop the best rates and loan terms for your needs. But, more importantly, having
a pre-approved loan commitment gives you a lot more leverage when negotiating the
purchase of your new home.
The next you need to consider is exactly what type of home would best suit your needs,
and what type of amenities would make you happy.
One way to do this is to make a wish list. On a sheet of paper and draw a line right
down the middle and label the left column "must have" and the right column
"would like".
Sit down and think about your family size and the type of lifestyle you live. Then
come up with the items for each column, place them on the paper in their respective
column, in order of importance, from top to bottom. Go through the "must have"
column a second time, move anything that you can live without to the "would
like" column.
Now go through both lists and decide based on your housing budget if the items on
those lists are realistic. You must be honest with yourself. If any items are unrealistic
given your price range and your local housing market, eliminate them.
At this point you should know exactly how much you can invest in your new home, and
be prepared to start looking.
As much fun as it may be, don't go out looking at homes that are our of your budget,
it will only make you feel disappointed later, and leave you with the feeling that
you settled for less. Also, If you have a house that you need to sell before you
can buy your new home, don't even go out looking until you have sold your present
home. Many times people find a house, fall in love with it and then lose it because
they have not sold their present home yet. Or worse, try and carry two homes at the
same time. That gets very expensive.
A few suggestions when buying a home:
Next, keep in mind, there is no such thing as "the perfect house". Buying
a home, for most people, is a series of compromises. You may have to trade off that
extra bedroom to get that in-ground pool, entertainment room, etc. Keep in mind,
your goal is to try to find the most features that you want without going over your
budget.
When looking for a new home, you should understand that the best thing you can do
is attain the assistance of a good, qualified realtor. This will save you considerable
time and money in the long run. A good realtor will ask you all the necessary questions
abour your budget, needs and prefrences and they will do the hunting and looking
for you and present you with those homes that best fit your budget and needs.
The other item to consider is that newspaper ads rarely tell the whole story. If
you start going around just looking at homes from ads in the paper, you're going
to have a long, long search.
Remember the best place to look for a home is still through a good Realtor. Most
are connected to a computerized multiple listing service and can easily pull up every
home in your price range in a couple of minutes. You can then go through each listing
and choose the homes that you are interested in seeing. It's a lot easier to spend
an hour in the office looking at all the homes for sale, than it is to spend 3 months
looking at only some of them. This way you can easily find the right house for you,
quickly and comfortably. And by looking at all the homes available and comparison
shopping, you can also find the best deal.
Realtors in Las Vegas, not only have all of the resale houses on their computer system,
but they also maintain a database of all the new homes for sale as well.
A good realtor will also know who currently has the best loan and title rates, and
will be familiar with all the paperwork and legal niceties involved. Only you can
decide the right home for you. Our philosophy has always been that " whatever
which home someone buys, they're happy with it". A realtors job is to help you
get it.
When looking at a home, don't worry about things you can change later; paint, carpeting,
drapes, decorating, etc. Be concerned with the things that you can't change; location,
lot size, number of bedrooms, square footage, etc.. When looking at each home ask
yourself: "Would I be happy here?" That's what's really important. Not
whether or not it's a good deal. I know this sounds odd, but think about it. What's
the point of saving a few thousand dollars now (which on your loan payment is only
about $30 a month anyway) if you're miserable in your own home for the next five
years.
When making an offer on a property, be fair, low-balling usually won't get you anywhere,
and we've even seen owners refuse to sell to certain people at any price because
they were insulted.
Talk things over with your realtor, after looking around, you'll find that you've
gotten a pretty good idea of values and you'll be able to make your offer accordingly.
Also It's a very good idea to have the house inspected by a professional so as to
make sure you won't have any problems later.
The day before closing and taking possession, you should go through and make a final
inspection of your new home. Check everything: run all the appliances, test all the
outlets, make sure everything in the house works perfectly. Before it's yours.
These are just some basic concepts to be considered when buying a home. The technical
aspects such as contracts, escrow, title, insurance, impounds, Finance, etc., are
different for everyone, and need to be addressed on an individual basis.
Once again, if you are planning on purchasing a home in the Las Vegas area, please
contact a qualified realtor for an appointment. They can sit down with you, determine
your needs, and evaluate your personal situation. This way you'll be able to find
just the right home, and get settled into it, with the least cost and inconvenience
to you.
Wanna learn some
Real Estate Terms? Choose a link below.
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